The Most Important Standard in Parenting

I recently visited a site where a learned blogger discussed the notion of how to keep our daughters from growing up to be bimbos in a culture where girls go from mouseketeer to minx before we know it. It was a great topic, but missed what I thought was THE most important fix to the problem.

As a mom who is totally concerned about my two young daughters becoming bimbo-fied by our crazy and (thankfully) free culture, the key for me has been to make the Bible and Jesus central in my girls' lives. Because they learned to love Jesus at a very, very young age (modeled and reinforced by parents, as imperfect as we've been), as they enter that pre-puberty age where they're asking more questions and forming their own opinions, they now have the Word of God as their standard as they toss their thoughts around.

And that's coming (at least in part) from their own knowledge base, not something anybody is newly ramming down their throats in an effort to manipulate them into making a certain decision.

When your kids are young, you have A LOT to say about what influences them. As parents, we need to take every opportunity to influence our children with the Truth. Not as hypocritical, over-zealous, Bible-thumping, know-it-alls. Rather, as people who understand the struggles that they're going through--because, c'mon, you know we went through them too.

Our media is influencing our kids at every juncture. We HAVE to make sure that our voices are louder than those of the yammering world outside the walls of our homes!




And the Bible is really the ultimate instruction book for dilemmas like the ones our children face. And parents, it tells us all how to train up our children in the way that they should go so that when they are older they won't depart from it.

By the way, if you think that the Bible is just a bunch of thou-shalt-nots designed to rain on your parade and spoil your fun, you've missed the whole point. The Bible is God's love letter, His instruction manual, to His kids. He shared it with us, His kids, now wouldn't it be wise to share that great wisdom with ours?



Put Jesus in the center of your parenting and you'll be golden! More importantly, so will your children!

Everything...

What's God got to do with it? What kind of question is that? Glad you asked.

You don't have to talk to too many people or spend too much time poking around cyberspace to realize that people everywhere are posing tons of questions about pretty meaningful stuff. As I've looked at some of the responses, I've noticed they range from highly intellectual to well, just plain stupid.
The thing I've noticed sorely missing is a meaningful discussion in the general population about how God might just respond to those questions.

Listen, I'm no Bible scholar, but I do know God. He has shown up in the middle of enough of my messes and protected me in serious situations and brought me through some gut-wrenching crises, to make me more than a little familiar with His nature. I know from personal experience who He is and Whose I am. And what He's capable of.

God is absolutely awesome and His plans for each one of us are amazing. This blog explores and addresses the nature of God and how very RELEVANT He is to absolutely EVERYTHING each one of us faces.

This is not pie-in-the-sky, wish-want-hope, cling-blindly-to-religion, take-a-leap-of-faith-and-just-believe theory. This God is the Real Deal, ready to meet us right where we are. He is all about eternity (as you most likely heard as a kid growing up in Sunday School). But what you might have missed (I did), is that He is also a practical, relevant, roll-up-His-sleeves, and be right here where the rubber meets the road, kind of God.

I've got some stories about my life that would shock some people out there. It'll take some time to get it all out there--but I know it's time to start spilling the beans. And I'm confident that as I share my adventures and respond to yours, God will show up in the middle of it, big as day. Encouraging, inspiring, and edifying for you and me as well--and even for someone else you know who might be seeking answers or struggling with one of life's many curve balls.

What issue are you facing? What decision are you grappling with? What dragon are you fighting? What wolf is at your door? What regret can't you shake? What's keeping you awake at night?

God Himself knew you would be at this very juncture at this very moment in your life. He is not disappointed in you. He is not angry with you. He loves you more than you can imagine. He's waiting for you to ask Him for his intervention, guidance, direction.

He has a plan for you

that is good. (Jeremiah 29:11)

He has the answers.

Ask Him.

This could be your day.

Little by little, we'll address these great big issues and the incredible nature of our great big God, who holds them all in the palm of His capable hand. I can't wait to see how He shows up here!

What's your story? What's God got to do with it? Everything.